Police seek additional charges in Westport church vandalism

Police are investigating a tip that Martin Cutler — a Taunton man who was arrested Saturday for allegedly desecrating St. John the Baptist Church on March 1 — may have been involved in two church break-ins in Middleboro and Plympton. “We have made phone calls to those (police) departm...

Police are investigating a tip that Martin Cutler — a Taunton man who was arrested Saturday for allegedly desecrating St. John the Baptist Church on March 1 — may have been involved in two church break-ins in Middleboro and Plympton.

“We have made phone calls to those (police) departments to offer them our assistance,” Westport Detective Jeff Majewski said, adding that detectives received information Monday night of Cutler’s possible involvement in those break-ins.

Plympton police Chief Patrick S. Dillon said someone broke into a preschool attached to the Plympton Congregational Church and stole a safe containing cash on March 7. There were no other items reported damaged or stolen. Dillon said his detectives “are working closely with Westport.”

Middleboro police detectives declined to comment Tuesday. Last summer, at least three churches in that town were burglarized, but the suspects limited their destruction to searching for cash. No religious items were stolen or damaged.

At St. John the Baptist Church, 945 Main Road in Westport, police allege that Cutler, 29, bypassed a cashbox and knocked over a Bible and two icons, smashed some glass items, ripped a crucifix off the church’s tabernacle and damaged a saint statue.

Cutler allegedly stole the 100-year-old tabernacle, a chalice, a Roman Missal, two candlesticks, a bucket used for holy water, two ciboria, as well as children’s toys and kitchen appliances.

Before leaving the church, Cutler, who according to police reports admitted to having hepatitis C, urinated in a holy water font and on the ground around the altar, Majewski said.

Cutler told several people of his alleged actions, including a claim that he cursed God as he was leaving the church, according to court documents. He is facing nine criminal charges, including one count of using infected bodily fluids to injure another, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Cutler’s brother, Jessie Cutler, 27, of Bourne, was arrested Friday in Mattapoisett for allegedly stealing copper wire from utility poles. A warrant has been issued for his arraignment in Fall River District Court on charges that he accompanied his brother during the church break-in.

Meanwhile, Westport police are looking into filing criminal charges against several other people — including the defendants’ mother and their girlfriends — for allegedly lying to detectives in saying that they did not know anything about the break-in. The stolen religious items were kept in the defendants’ mother’s house in New Bedford, according to court documents.

“Additional charges are in the works,” Majewski said.

Five days after the church break-in, Westport police received an anonymous tip naming Martin Cutler as a suspect. Detectives interviewed him, his girlfriend and his relatives, but all denied having any knowledge of the break-in. On one occasion, the detectives reported seeing a backpack containing bolt cutters, a hypodermic needle and pieces of cut copper wire in Cutler’s apartment at 73 Broadway Ave. in Taunton.

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When Jessie Cutler was arrested in Mattapoisett, police received information from a cooperating witness that some stolen church items were inside a vehicle, which detectives tracked into Rochester before pulling it over last Friday night, according to court documents.

Inside the vehicle’s trunk, police found pieces of the tabernacle and candlesticks wrapped inside plastic grocery bags. The driver, Leah Wilhelmsen of Mattapoisett, was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property, police said.

In subsequent interviews, witnesses told police that Jessie Cutler accompanied his brother Martin to St. John the Baptist Church, but that he waited outside and only went in the church when Martin “was taking too long and getting greedy,” according to court documents.

The day after the break-in, the defendants’ girlfriends drove to a scrap yard in Westport, where they were given $68 for some assorted metal pieces of the tabernacle. Martin Cutler kept a chalice because he thought it was gold and “worth a fortune,” according to court documents.

Police later found the chalice and the Roman Missal in Cutler’s apartment. Cutler had allegedly threatened his mother and his brother’s girlfriend if they cooperated with police, according to court documents.

Meanwhile, a piece of the tabernacle, engraved with a picture of a saint, may still be in someone’s possession. Majewski asked anyone with information about its location to call Westport detectives at 508-636-1122.